# The Republican War on Voting Thread
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [March 11, 2021, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723 "2021-03-11T17:30:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2021, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/1 "2021-03-11T17:30:46Z")
…because it needs to be created.
> **[Voting Laws Roundup: January 2021](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-january-2021)**
>
> After historic turnout and increased mail voting in 2020, state lawmakers across the country are pulling in opposite directions by introducing restrictive and expansive voting legislation.
> **[Gov. Kim Reynolds signs law shortening Iowa's early and Election Day voting](https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/08/iowa-governor-kim-reynolds-signs-law-shortening-early-voting-closing-polls-earlier-election-day/6869317002/)**
>
> The measure passed the Legislature with all Republican votes. The GOP says the law is about election integrity; Democrats say it's voter suppression.
> **[The new Republican war on voting rights, explained](https://www.vox.com/22307937/voting-rights-georgia-arizona-voting-by-mail-republican-absentee-donald-trump)**
>
> GOP lawmakers in states trending toward Democrats hope to arrest that trend by making it harder to vote.
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2021, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/2 "2021-03-11T17:31:18Z")
Why do Republicans hate it when people vote?
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### Author:  [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2021, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/3 "2021-03-11T17:33:20Z")
Because they and their “policies” are deeply unpopular and they know it.
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### Author:  [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2021, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/4 "2021-03-11T17:36:17Z")
Some commentary about voting in Georgia By Ron Hauge:
[https://www.instagram.com/p/CMR5DlJlJ64/](https://www.instagram.com/p/CMR5DlJlJ64/)
Good luck winning a game you shouldn’t have to play.
```
//i\\
```
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### Author:  [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2021, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/5 "2021-03-11T17:38:59Z")
At it’s heart, I believe that the Republicans who are at the forefront of this movement would really like to go back to beginning and only allow land owning men (white) to vote. Since they can’t really say that out loud, instead they do all of this tinkering type of stuff, which serves their goal. The rest of their party tribe who would be disenfranchised by this goal (women, non-land owners, minority GOP members) go along with the specious talking points because…well, because that is what they do.
At bottom, it’s about “the right kind of people” vs. everyone else.
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/6 "2021-03-11T17:39:55Z")
> [@asahi](#):
>
> Why do Republicans hate it when people vote?
Because the Republican accusation that Democrats use widespread voter fraud to win is a _ **genuine** _ belief. It’s not idle talk, as some Democrats would think; the belief is _ **dead serious** _ within Republican circles. The R’s truly believe they are battling a threat to election integrity, hence the push for voter ID and restrictions.
In addition, Republicans want parity because they cannot compete on the basis of merit of ideas. In a straight-up, 1 vs. 1, total democracy with no Electoral College, 2-senators-per-state, gerrymandering, etc., they’d lose. So they need some way to achieve parity.
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### Author:  [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2021, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/7 "2021-03-11T17:42:02Z")
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> The belief that Democrats use widespread voter fraud to win is a _ **genuine** _ belief.
Yes, they genuinely believe a lot of crap that they have been fed ad nauseam for decades.
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/8 "2021-03-11T20:26:33Z")
The second part is the one that matters. Maybe the rank and file actually believe voter fraud is significant. But the ones in power have admitted, again and again, that they push voter restrictions because they know more voting, especially by black and brown and city folk, makes it more likely they’ll lose.
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### Author:  [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2021, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/9 "2021-03-11T20:36:12Z")
They regard the country as owned by White Christian Males and if you’re anything else you’re a renter at best and a squatter at worst.
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### Author:  [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2021, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/10 "2021-03-11T21:17:22Z")
GOP John Kavenaugh now says it out loud:
He says not everyone should be voting. They explicitly don’t WANT everyone who is eligible to cast a vote. He thinks that only “quality votes” should count.
And we all know what the GOP definition of a “quality vote” is.
These people are absolutely dispicable.
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### Author:  [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2021, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/11 "2021-03-11T21:25:13Z")
Republican politicians can go to hell with their fear of what the American people think. They can go to hell for many reasons, but that one, too.
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/12 "2021-03-12T00:16:59Z")
> **[Analysis | The most extreme voting restrictions proposed by the GOP](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/03/10/most-extreme-voting-restrictions-proposed-by-gop/)**
>
> Many of the proposals don't actually deal with perceptions of fraud, as the GOP claims is their target. And some go quite a bit further.
> Republican state lawmakers across the country are pressing forward with bills that would [add new voting restrictions](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gop-voting-restrictions/2021/02/19/d1fab224-72ca-11eb-85fa-e0ccb3660358_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_2). They have justified this by pointing to [Americans’ (and mostly Republicans’) concerns with the legitimacy of the 2020 election](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/02/22/how-gop-plans-use-trumps-most-dangerous-falsehood-its-advantage/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2), despite no evidence of actual significant or widespread fraud. But [as I wrote Tuesday](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/03/09/gop-says-its-voting-bills-are-about-restoring-faith-elections-actual-restrictions-tell-different-tale/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2), the bills themselves go quite a bit further than those concerns would dictate — in ways that lend credence to the idea that this is more about gaming the system.
> …
>
> ### 1. Moving up deadlines for absentee ballots — to days before the election
>
> …
>
> ### 2. Requiring absentee ballots to be notarized
>
> …
>
> ### 3. Eliminating mail return altogether
>
> Absentee ballots are often referred to interchangeably as “mail-in votes.” But a bill in Arizona seeks to eliminate the “mail-in” portion of that, prohibiting them from being returned by mail at all. It would require them to be dropped off “[only by delivering it by hand to a designated voting location](https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/55leg/1R/bills/SB1503P.pdf).”
>
> …
>
> ### 4. Eliminating the senior exemption
>
> …
>
> ### 5. Black churches and Sunday voting
>
> …
>
> ### 6. Paring down voter rolls
>
> …
>
> ### 7. Changing the allocation process for electoral votes
>
> …
Nos. 2 & 3 really leave me gobsmacked. _Notarize_ your absentee ballot??? As for absentee ballots needing to be dropped off in person… um… what about military personnel who mail their ballots from overseas?
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### Author:  [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2021, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/13 "2021-03-12T12:56:21Z")
Then there’s the elimination of unsupervised drop boxes, rules against line warming and making it unlawful to transport unrelated people to election sites. None of those proposals relate even a little to election security and the Republicans are totally full of shit.
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/14 "2021-03-12T13:52:47Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#):
>
> elimination of unsupervised drop boxes, rules against line warming and making it unlawful to transport unrelated people to election sites.
Exactly. They don’t want people voting. They’ve determined that more of the ‘wrong’ people voting is bad for democracy, or their version of it.
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2021, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/15 "2021-03-12T13:55:46Z")
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> the belief is _ **dead serious** _ within Republican circles.
I seriously doubt that the ones who are actually in the legislatures, the governors mansions, or in congress actually believe that – maybe some of their brainwashed voters do as a result of watching Fox News and OANN all the time. But so what? The fact that there are suckers who believe in horse shit conspiracy theories shouldn’t matter.
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> In addition, Republicans want parity because they cannot compete on the basis of merit of ideas.
This ^ is what it boils down to - and nothing more.
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### Author:  [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2021, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/16 "2021-03-12T13:58:33Z")
Unless the Democrats get a Senate supermajority, I doubt Biden’s election reforms will go through. Can the Democrats flip ten Senate seats? I doubt it.
> [@ThelmaLou](#):
>
> _Notarize_ your absentee ballot???
Wouldn’t that be an illegal poll tax? I wasn’t aware you could get things notarized for free.
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2021, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/17 "2021-03-12T14:09:56Z")
> [@Kimera757](#):
>
> I wasn’t aware you could get things notarized for free.
My local bank will notarize for free if I have an account there. And, any lawyer in NJ is also a notary, so if you have any lawyer friends here in NJ you can probably get a free notarization. I don’t know if that’s true in other states.
Of course, if you’re a demographic that’s under-banked and don’t have lawyer friends, you’re probably SOL. That’s probably the point.
The requirement is bullshit anyway, since, again in NJ, they check all the signatures against what you used when you registered. My daughter’s signature has changed enough from when she registered at 18 until now that she had to send an attestation that it was her ballot. Her ballot was initially rejected.
All that was done by election workers, no notary needed.
We had a poster here that would defend any and all voting restrictions, as long as they were legal. I wonder how he feels about the latest wave.
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### Author:  [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2021, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/18 "2021-03-12T14:34:30Z")
> [@RitterSport](#):
>
> so if you have any lawyer friends here in NJ you can probably get a free notarization.
I’m actually a Canadian. I understand that in the US notary publics are a lot more common than in Canada. (I think Quebec has a lot of notaries.)
I’ve had a few things notarized in Canada and always had to pay. The fees could be as much as $50. Most of my banks are online but I have a local branch that I might be able to get something notarize at. The bank’s website doesn’t advertise this at all, so I don’t know if they actual do this, or if it’s free.
> [@RitterSport](#):
>
> Of course, if you’re a demographic that’s under-banked and don’t have lawyer friends, you’re probably SOL. That’s probably the point.
If only they put those that kind of thinking to solving actual problems.
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2021, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/19 "2021-03-12T14:44:54Z")
> [@Kimera757](#):
>
> If only they put those that kind of thinking to solving actual problems.
I saw a great tweet from a Democratic politician. Something like, “we spent the week getting unemployment benefits extended, sending money to states to get kids back in school, [etc.], and they spent the week reading The Cat in the Hat.”
They’ve been the party of No for too long, and they save their best ideas trying to destroy our democracy.
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2021, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/20 "2021-03-12T15:35:48Z")
This is why Biden and Dems have no choice but to say to hell with bipartisanship, especially when it comes to stimulus bills. So far, I think they’ve done all I could expect in terms of pushing their agenda. I wish they’d been able to work in a minimum wage hike but $15/hr is likely unrealistic anyway, and it might be that they could get something a little short of that as part of an infrastructure package, perhaps even doling out some pork to more centrist Republican senators to entice them.
Democrats have to be seen as the party that governs, the party that makes government and democracy actually work sometimes. The Republicans want to be the party that makes government fail so that they can make it a self-fulfilling prophesy.
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